Scratch Cleanup

Find all leaked ad-hoc dev scratch files in /workspace, verify they are not legitimate WIP, move them into the gitignored .tmp/ folder, and verify .gitignore patterns cover future leaks.

When to use

• git status in /workspace shows 20+ untracked check-*, debug-*, test-*, probe-*, run-* files
• Starting a new session and inheriting leaked scratch from prior dev agents
• After an OOM or crash where dev worktrees may have spilled files into the main workspace
• Before running /compact or /session-wrapup to keep the committed state clean

Step 1: Verify /workspace/main

pwd && git branch --show-current

Must be /workspace on main.

Step 2: Survey untracked non-plan files

git status --short | grep '^??' | grep -vE '(plan/|\.claude/|test262$|components/)' | head -60

Patterns to sweep (all represent ad-hoc debug/probe scripts):

Root level:

• check-*.ts, check-*.mts
• debug-*.ts, debug-*.mts
• run-*.ts, run*.mjs, run-test*.mjs
• test-*-debug.ts, test-*-main.ts, test-on-main*.ts
• test-src*.ts, test-wat*.ts
• test-throws-*.ts, test-full-wat-*.ts, test-disposable-*.ts, test-pr-*.ts

Under tests/:

• tests/probe-*.test.ts
• tests/test-*-debug.test.ts, tests/test-*-probe.test.ts
• tests/scope-close-*-debug.test.ts
• tests/regression-check.test.ts
• tests/test-type-mismatch.test.ts
• tests/test-pr*-regressions.test.ts
• tests/*-debug*.test.ts

Preserve (do NOT move):

• tests/issue-NNNN*.test.ts — likely real WIP from a dev; check PR queue before moving
• plan/** — planning docs
• .claude/memory/** — team memory

Step 3: Check for false positives

Before moving anything, verify the file is NOT referenced by an open PR:

for f in <SUSPECT_FILES>; do
  if gh pr list --limit 20 --json files --jq ".[] | select(.files[]?.path==\"$f\") | .number"; then
    echo "  KEEP: $f referenced by open PR"
  else
    echo "  MOVE: $f"
  fi
done

For tests/issue-NNNN*.test.ts files: additionally check if the issue is currently in-progress and the test file is the dev's WIP (if so, leave it).

Step 4: Ensure .tmp/ exists

mkdir -p .tmp

Step 5: Move

mv <FILES...> .tmp/
ls .tmp/ | wc -l

Step 6: Verify gitignore covers the patterns

grep -qE '^\.tmp/' .gitignore || echo ".tmp/" >> .gitignore

Also verify the root-level and tests/ patterns are in .gitignore as a safety net:

grep -E '^/check-\*\.ts|^/debug-\*|tests/probe-\*' .gitignore

If missing, add them. Reference the current working .gitignore block:

# Dev scratch — ad-hoc probe/debug/repro scripts
.tmp/
/check-*.ts
/check-*.mts
/debug-*.ts
/debug-*.mts
/run-*.ts
/run-*.mts
/run[0-9]*.ts
/run-test*.mjs
/test-*-debug.ts
/test-*-main.ts
/test-on-main*.ts
/test-src*.ts
/test-wat*.ts
/test-throws-*.ts
/test-full-wat-*.ts
/test-disposable-*.ts
/test-pr-*.ts
tests/probe-*.test.ts
tests/test-*-debug.test.ts
tests/test-*-probe.test.ts
tests/scope-close-*-debug.test.ts
tests/regression-check.test.ts
tests/test-type-mismatch.test.ts
tests/test-pr*-regressions.test.ts
tests/*-debug*.test.ts

Step 7: Verify clean state

git status --short | head -20

Should show only the modified .gitignore (if you updated it) and any legitimate planning/memory edits.

Step 8: Commit

git add .gitignore
git commit -m "chore: scratch cleanup — move leaked dev files to .tmp/

✓

Moved N leaked scratch files from /workspace root and tests/ into the
gitignored .tmp/ folder. Updated .gitignore patterns to catch future
leaks automatically.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.6 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>"

Only .gitignore needs staging — the moved files are already gitignored and the move itself is invisible to git.

Notes

• Never delete without moving first — the files might contain diagnostic state a dev can recover. Moving to .tmp/ preserves them while getting them out of git's way.
• Deleting .tmp/ is OK between sessions — nothing committed depends on it.
• Don't move tests/issue-NNNN*.test.ts blindly — these are often legitimate per-issue test files. Only move if they are clearly *-debug or *-probe variants.
• Root cause prevention: ensure CLAUDE.md tells dev agents to write scratch in .tmp/ directly. Pattern-based .gitignore is a safety net, not a substitute for the convention.